Whether your business is a well-established small business or a small business that you’re just now trying to get off the ground, creating online ads that you run to bring more visitors and buyers to your website can really help give your business a marked boost.

However, simply having the ads won’t necessarily take your business to the level you want. To really get the most bang for your buck, you’ve got to have well-crafted ads that hit your target audience hard and make them want to take action, be it just visiting your website, contacting you, or completing a sale.

To help you learn how you can start creating ads that do just this, here are three tips for writing great online ads for your small business.

Focus On The Right Keywords

When it comes to creating online ads, one of the first things you need to consider are the keywords you’re wanting your ads to be targeted to. Depending on the type of business you’re running or what you want your business to be known for, the keywords you’ll want to use will vary.

For example, if you’re a local dentist, you’ll want to ensure that your paid ads say the dental services you offer and the areas you serve. Without the right keywords, Dan Shewan, a contributor to WordStream.com, shares that your ads won’t be focused and targeted correctly, which means that you could just be wasting a lot of money by having your ads show up for people who aren’t actually interested in what it is you’re selling and will never actually convert.

As you come up with the keywords you want to focus on, make sure you cover both basic keywords and long-tail keywords. While the basic keywords might be more valuable, the long-tail keywords can help you reach people who are much closer to converting on their own already.

Play Into Customer’s Selfishness

As for the actual copy that you write for your ads, your strategy will vary depending on your brand and the personality that you’re trying to convey to your audience. But regardless of this, one thing is certain: if you play into your customer’s selfishness, you’ll likely find more success with your ads.

According to Adam Proehl, a contributor to Search Engine Journal, playing into your customer’s selfishness simply means that you should very apparently address one of the fundamental needs that your customers are hoping to fill by working with your company. Everyone has these needs that they’re trying to fill, even if you don’t identify your target audience as being inherently selfish.

By highlighting how your product or service could directly benefit your audience rather than merely focusing on the features of your product or service, you’re likely to have more successful online ads.

Don’t Forget To Tug At Emotions

In addition to using your ads to explain how you can meet your target audience’s needs, Khalid Saleh, a contributor to WordStream.com, explains that you can also use your ad copy to tug at the emotions of your target audience.

When you choose to use this tactic, you’re relying on the fact that many consumers make their purchasing decisions based on their emotions rather than purely on logic. And because this is often the case, especially with online purchases, you might see a lot of success with this.

Keep in mind, however, that purposefully tugging at your audience’s emotions can be a fine line to walk. While you want your ad to produce some kind of emotional response in your audience to the extent that they feel compelled to take action, you don’t want your ad copy to be so heavy-handed that it doesn’t seem genuine.

Finding the right balance for your online ads can take some practice, especially as you seek to find what your brand’s voice is and get to know your target audience more. But as you push yourself beyond what you’re presently doing and practice this craft, you could find that you’re able to have much more success with the online ads you publish.

If you’ve been having trouble crafting the right ads for your online business, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you take your small business ads to the next level.